LeBron James talks like a racist

[Pterodactyl]

And what's the issue of stating that the owners are white, if they are white?

What if they aren't actually all white? Shahid Kahn, for instance might not like that label.

Also, Daniel Snyder might take issue with being lumped into that group.

But why bother with nuance when you can generalize an entire group of people based largely on how they look and/or things they may not even be associated with. Seems like there's a word for that kind of behavior.

 

[baron]

And what's the issue of stating that the owners are white, if they are white?

This reminds me of people who throw a fit when labeled "straight" or "cis". It seems a lot like they want to have no label, to just be normal, while those other people get a label, because they're "not normal". Doesn't work that way.

That's bizarre. I've never heard a white person complain about being called white unless there's a negative connotation attached. If I comment on a news item saying, "Another thug gets jail time, good riddance," it's different to me saying, "Another black thug gets jail time, good riddance," regardless of the fact the man is actually black. What's more, I imagine you'd be one of the first to bring me up on it. But when a black man uses the word 'white' in the same manner it's hand waved away - "Well, they are white, aren't they?"

The NFL owners are old white guys who treat players (regardless of *their* race)m like slaves.

No, they treat them like what they are, literally the most privileged humans on the planet.

 

[BobTheCoward]

What if they aren't actually all white? Shahid Kahn, for instance might not like that label.

Also, Daniel Snyder might take issue with being lumped into that group.

But why bother with nuance when you can generalize an entire group of people based largely on how they look and/or things they may not even be associated with. Seems like there's a word for that kind of behavior.

Stereotyping
...but not racism by the Google definition


ETA: Dan Snyder isn't white?

 

[theprestige]

And what's the issue of stating that the owners are white, if they are white?

What's the issue of stating that thugs are black, if they are black?

What's the issue of stating race at all, in any context where race isn't strictly relevant?

 

[Mumbles]

What's the issue of stating that thugs are black, if they are black?

What's the issue of stating race at all, in any context where race isn't strictly relevant?

because you, like baron, are hellbent on not understanding this basic and easily understood point point, I will say this for others, and perhaps larger text will help someone understand a bit - perhaps they just missed it the first few hundred times it was explained.

It is correct to call a black person a thug if he is actually a violent criminal, it is racist to call Trayvon Martin a thug because he was black and the person. George Zimmerman was the actual thug in their encounter and this was obvious almost as soon as his police call was made available. There is a difference between judging based on behavior and judging based on skin color.

Same as here - two groups of white men, two different behaviors, thus two different judgements. And it's fine to say "that black dude there is a thug, I saw him beat up his girlfriend." if those are facts. "Thugs are black" is obviously false, and racist.

Now, go away, I have no further use for you.

 

[baron]

because you, like baron, are hellbent on not understanding this basic and easily understood point point, I will say this for others, and perhaps larger text will help someone understand a bit - perhaps they just missed it the first few hundred times it was explained.

It is correct to call a black person a thug if he is actually a violent criminal, it is racist to call Trayvon Martin a thug because he was black and the person. George Zimmerman was the actual thug in their encounter and this was obvious almost as soon as his police call was made available. There is a difference between judging based on behavior and judging based on skin color.

Same as here - two groups of white men, two different behaviors, thus two different judgements. And it's fine to say "that black dude there is a thug, I saw him beat up his girlfriend." if those are facts. "Thugs are black" is obviously false, and racist.

What about the example I gave? You seem to have ignored it in favour of a strawman, and a very poor one at that. Throwing a tantrum and writing in huge text doesn't make you less wrong.

Now, go away, I have no further use for you.

 

[Suddenly]

Seeing my question wasn't answered, I'll answer it myself.

LeBron earns $35.6m a year plus $53m a year in sponsorship. Every 10 days he earns more than the average American does in a lifetime.

In 2017 he was projected to be a billionaire before his 40th birthday.

Earlier this year he was on target to being the highest paid NBA player in history.

So yes, let's take a brief moment and allow our thoughts to be with this poor, oppressed pauper who is under the control of 'slave-masters', "the most underpaid athlete in the history of sports", who would of course be "pretty justified" "if he were to complain about what he is paid".

Alternatively, we can marvel at the hero worship necessary to come out with this crap.

To start off, he isn't complaining about this. I'm not complaining about this. This is just the economics of the sport. He is wildly underpaid in terms of salary as to what he would get in a free market, again assuming his goal was to be paid the highest salary possible, which is pretty clearly not the case.

The NBA salary structure sets a max salary for any one player as a % of the total salary cap. At this point the max salary around 40M depending on the details, and there are a lot of people not nearly as valuable as LeBron was in his prime that make this.

If the teams were free to pay what they want to whom they want, at a minimum we are talking 100M/yr+ and an ownership percentage. Given how during his prime some big market teams with deeeeeeeeeeeeep pockets were desperate to establish themselves, (the Nets were an extreme case in 2010 when they were bought by a Russian Plutocrat and about to move to Brooklyn) even speculating at a ceiling is pointless.

Even if the salary cap were kept in place and just the rules limiting the max salary removed, someone would offer him far more, like 70% of the cap rather than the 35% or so it is limited to now.

That's what I am saying.

 

[Suddenly]

False. He's contrasting the attitude of the NFL owners towards the players on their teams (controlling, commandeering), top the attitude the NBA owners have towards the players on their teams (much friendlier, more accommodating). Both sets of owners are mostly white, both sets of players mostly black. Not racist pretty much by definition.

Right.

His point is probably best explained by the fact that NFL players face a far greater risk of serious incapacitating injury than NBA players, yet contracts in the NFL are rarely guaranteed. NFL players are by and large far more replaceable.

From that, it isn't hard to understand how the culture of management and ownership is going be way more callous to the players in the NFL. An NFL team that overly worries about the welfare of players is putting itself at a competitive disadvantage. An NBA team that doesn't care is putting itself at a disadvantage.

 

[mgidm86]

I just read the entire article and what he is complaining about the most, repeatedly in the article anyways, is how the two different leagues deal with player activism.

Since we are not seeing the entire interview I can only comment on what is in the article.

“I’m so appreciative in our league of our commissioner [Adam Silver],” James continued. “He doesn't mind us having ... a real feeling and to be able to express that. It doesn't even matter if Adam agrees with what we are saying, he at least wants to hear us out. As long as we are doing it in a very educational, non-violent way, then he’s absolutely okay with it.”

......

“I am very educated about what I believe in and I’m not doing it in a violent way,” James said. “I’m not knocking on your door saying, ‘Listen, I’m kneeling today and if you don’t kneel with me, I’ll knock you the f-- out.’ But you know people go crazy when things are done outside the box. People don’t know how to react.”

I don't like to throw the word 'racist' around here. I actually don't care what he said one bit, but I find the reactions to it here on the forum very interesting, temper tantrums and all.

Everyone trying to figure out what is racist and what isn't is so counterproductive. Like the "while black" threads - what is the point here?

I don't know if LeBron is racist and I don't care. He may be angry, he may say things that are inflammatory, but how would I know if he's racist or if what he - you know what this is totally stupid.

Let's all be glad all our own words are not hyper-analyzed by the entire world lest we all have a mob of torch-carriers looking for us for being the cretins we all are.

PS - I hate basketball and don't care about LeBron one bit.